Sunday, November 27, 2005

I stayed with the Stricklands for the past week and a half. They were very kind to let me crash with them for a while.

Although I have a roof over my head our furniture has not arrived yet, so I'm basically camping out indoors.

It’s really not as bad as this picture indicates. Since I don't have my camera with me this picture will just have to do to capture the camping feel. Don't worry; there is a heater in the apartment... I don't have to make my own fire ;)

I have an air mattress, a lamp, a towel, some pots, and other odds and ends to accommodate me until our furniture is delivered.

Although it’s not a lot right now, it is sufficient. Mainly, I miss Andrea and Abby most of all. It has been hard being away from them.

Saturday, November 26, 2005

My favorite parts of the show where an interesting tap rendition of the "12 Days of Christmas" by the Rockettes, an impressive feat in marching by the "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers", and an awe-inspiring "Living Nativity" telling the story of Jesus' birth ( with camels, sheep, etc... ).

I want to give a special thanks to Alisa Brandon for putting together this event. She did much of the legwork getting the tickets and organizing the evening.

Thursday, November 24, 2005

The above picture was taken moments before we all dove into a smorgasbord of tempting food laid out before us. Unfortunately you will not find Abby in the picture. At that time it was taken she was sound asleep taking a nap upstairs. Before we filled our plates Pawi ( Andrea's Paternal Grandfather ) gave us all a history overview of how Thanksgiving started and how it came to be observed today. It was an informative and special moment. Thank you Pawi.

Not only did we have tons of tasty food, but we also had loads of fun playing games such as dominos, spoons, nine hole, etc...

In one way or another everyone made a contribution to why this Thanksgiving was so memorable. So, my thanks goes out to everyone, however, special thanks goes out to my In-Laws ( John and Freda Hall ). Their contribution to the success of this event was unmatched! Thank you again.

Before my Thanksgiving break ended Andrea, Abby, and I met up with my parents for a while and we showed them our new apartment and our house under construction. I am glad we were able to meet up with them and share our new experiences. They are special to me and I love them very much.

For more pictures of our Thanksgiving break ( which include pictures of Abby ) go to my Thanksgiving 2005 Yahoo! Photo Album.

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Garrison and Annie Strickland welcomed me in their home for the past week and a half while I waited for our apartment to become available.

The Stricklands made me feel very comfortable during my stay and I am extremely grateful for their generosity.

Several evenings we just sat around and chatted. I found this refreshing and as a result I got to know them much better. I accompanied the Stricklands to their Wednesday night bible class at the West End Church of Christ. I enjoyed the class and was glad to meet some of the people there. Garrison and I played several games of Dance Dance Revolution ( DDR ) on his PlayStation. On a side note, I prefer to regard a score of "E" in DDR to stand for "Elijah", instead the bottom of the dancing curve.

Friday, November 18, 2005

Abby is now 3 months old. She is getting much bigger and is smiling a lot more.

However, the big news is that she is starting to LAUGH! Ha ha ha ha. Andrea has witnessed her laughing twice now. Unfortunately, I have missed these laughing episodes since I am away from them in Nashville, but I look forward to experience Abby’s laugh firsthand during the Thanksgiving break.

She is still sleeping through the night pretty well. Some nights we don't need to attend to her at all until about 7:00am! Other times we may need to attend to her maybe once during the night. Either way, that’s much better sleep for all of us!

Sunday, November 13, 2005

The YAMs ( Young Adult Marrieds ) at CrossWalk Family of God gave us a send off potluck at the Church building. After the main course, other non-YAMs came to join the event. We appreciate all the people who were able to come and wanted to come, but could not.

Andrea and I have very fond memories from CrossWalk and the relationships we formed with the members there. I can still remember how friendly everyone was to us on our first Sunday visiting the Church. Ever since then, our experience continued to be wonderful. We are particularly thankful for how well the Church took care of us during and after Abby's birth. Many people helped provide us with food and babysitting!

CrossWalk will always hold a special place in our hearts. We will miss seeing our Church family there on a regular basis. We hope to keep in touch with many of them through this blog, e-mails, visits, etc...

Monday, November 07, 2005

With the help of some very talented and patient individuals we were able to complete the upgrade process on our new house and start our mortgage paperwork.

We have been very impressed with our realtor Molly Edmondson ( with Fridrich & Clark Realty ). She has and continues to work very hard with us. Not only is she very sweet and kind, but she has our best interests in mind and helps to protect us when we need it. I highly recommend Molly to anyone buying or selling real estate in the Nashville area!

We have also interacted a lot with Greg Standifer ( with Prestige Homes ). He has been very helpful and honest as we have been talking and brain storming about building our house. Not only does he know what he is doing, but I enjoy his sense of humor and his easygoingness.

We just met up with Pete Zaft this weekend ( with Countrywide Home Loans ). He was able to get us started on our mortgage paperwork for our new house. Pete graciously met us on a warm Sunday afternoon to walk us through the financial paperwork.

Sunday, November 06, 2005

This weekend Andrea's Paternal Grandparents, affectionately called Pawi and Moni, were honored at the Harpeth Hills Church of Christ for celebrating 50 or more years of marriage ( 65 years to be exact ). Out of all of the other couples they took 1st place for the longest marriage!

I think they also broke some kind of record because including themselves they had 4 generations represented at this special luncheon ( the youngest being Abby ). We were all sitting around the table pictured above.

We were pleased to be witnesses to this special honor. Pawi and Moni are great examples of Christian servants for not only our family, but to many other families as well. We look forward to living near them and having Abby grow up knowing them.

Friday, November 04, 2005

In the time our house was on the market for 4 days, 3 people toured our house, and we received 2 offer letters. The next day we countered on one of the offers and they accepted it the day after! Amazing!

Our stay at 34 Pinedale Circle has been a warm and cozy 3 years. The house quickly became home to us and is the part of many fond memories we have. Here are some pictures of our house that our realtor captured to post on their website.

God has definitely been helping us during this transition period. I am taken aback by how fast things are transpiring. I notice how others are also surprised when they hear how fluidly things are unfolding.

I want to thank Gina Davison and Roddy McCaskill ( with Roddy McCaskill Realty ) who were instrumental in selling our house. I highly recommend their business to anyone buying or selling a home in the Little Rock area. They are both very knowledgeable at their business and are able to explain the process in a king and patient manner. Thank you both again!